The organization of diabetic foot care in a regional public health service: baseline data from the diabetic foot valley Tuscany project.

AIM: Diabetic foot care is a core component of diabetology, yet the organisation of services in routine practice remains poorly characterised. We delivered a survey among the public diabetology centres (PDC) of Tuscany to get updated information on the DF-related activities of the PDC and their organization. METHODS: We administered an online structured questionnaire to the clinical leads of all 15 public diabetology centres in the region, exploring their organization around DF care. RESULTS: All the 15 PDC participated to the survey. Altogether they staffed 43 physicians, 37 nurses and 16 podiatrists; The frequency of diabetic-foot care provision varied across centres from once a week (2/15, 13.3%) to more than 1  day per week (5/15, 33.3%) to daily (7/15, 46.7%) The number of staff dedicated to DF Care was 63% of the total (61/97). DFU care was delivered by all the centres, while revascularization was available in 9/15 (60%). No difference emerged between the three large areas in which the Region is divided. The most frequently reported critical issues were organizational ones. CONCLUSIONS: DF care is an important part of the clinical activities delivered by the PDC and absorbs a significant number of resources, but is not adequately supported, nor in terms of resource allocation neither from an organizational and professional point of view.